Disneyland, Modern Family, and child safety tethers

There are two sitcoms that my family and I watch together: "Big Bang Theory" and "Modern Family". (We also enjoy reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond" in case anyone wants to judge.)

The episode that really sold them on "Modern Family" was "Disneyland". I had liked the show since seeing "Fizbo", so would watch it sometimes on my own, but when I saw the Disneyland episode I knew they would appreciate it, so I got them to watch it and we built on that.

My sisters and I just got back from Disneyland Friday night, and of course we quoted and referenced the episode a lot. (We quote a lot of pop culture things pretty regularly.) It occurred to me that I could write some things about the trip through the lens of the episode.

If you haven't seen it, one of the subplots is that Lily is going through a running phase, and Mitch and Cam try and use a "child safety tether" (leash) to keep her from getting lost in the park. Mitchell is especially embarrassed about this, so he does take her off, and she bolts. Jay catches her and he solves the issue by putting her in high heels, which ties in nicely with his subplot with Gloria, for whom he buys slippers to get her out of the horribly uncomfortable high heels she wore.

I admit that the first time I saw a child on a leash, many years ago, I was taken aback by it, thinking it seemed a little dehumanizing for the child. However, I never judged any parents harshly for using them. Kids do take off with no warning, and I can see the point in hindering that.

That was strongly reinforced in the park on our first day. Waiting in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, a family ahead of us had one child start toddling off a few paces ahead. This is not that unusual, but then the child ducked under the rope to the outside of the line, which was easy because of his short height. Then the child kept going. The park was very crowded that day. The father stepped out of line and pursued the child. It did involve some running, but nothing terrible happened at that point.

Shortly after, while we were heading to lunch at the Village Haus, I noticed a child whom I would guess was between 18 and 24 months who was running a little ahead. I thought she might be pursuing one adult, but she went right past, and I realized I could not figure out whom she belonged to.

We have often had funny things happen because kids don't notice where they are. I have had little children slip their hands into mine, thinking I was Mommy, and on one trip another kid wrapped herself around Julie's legs waiting in line for the Alice in Wonderland ride. (Yes, apparently everything happens in Fantasyland.)

The thing is, normally the parent is nearby, and watching, and maybe they are apologetic or embarrassed or maybe they think it's really cute, but they do know what is going on with their child, and they are there when the child looks up and realizes that the person they are touching is NOT MOMMY.

I could not find anyone who was looking for this little girl. As if to make it even more obvious how vulnerable she was, her pants fell down a little, I think indicating a recent diaper change. She was able to pull them back up, but she was starting to panic, and starting to go faster in the opposite direction.

I was not sure what to do. Fortunately, I was not the only person who noticed. I know someone told a park employee, because he came up near me and I heard him say "What missing child?" I knew the answer to that question. I pointed her out and he said something like "Got it" and I said "Good", which doesn't sound exactly right.

I guess I meant "Thank you" because I was grateful that someone with some official capacity and training could handle it, but it felt very business-like considering that I heard the worry in his voice when he asked himself "What missing child?" and I know how many emotions I was having about it.

One very real (and probably unfair) emotion was anger at her parents. How could they let her slip away like that? Realistically, it was probably something simple that could have happened to anyone. So I don't judge leashes. That's not to say that the high heels idea wasn't ingenious, but it's good to have options.

For the Gloria side of it, I have to say that even though I have always worn sneakers in the park, a while back I started having Plantar fasciitis symptoms. I could no longer wear my traditional $12 shoes and had to start looking for shoes with support. I noticed that my feet held up much better this time. So even if cheap sneakers are better than high heels, good sneakers are better still. I've mainly been using New Balance.